NewLink Genetics: Ready to Test Ebola Vaccine

An Iowa drug developer says it has enough doses of a possible vaccine for the deadly Ebola virus to launch an initial round of human testing.

NewLink Genetics Chief Financial Officer Gordon Link says the timing of the trials is uncertain, but the company is receiving help from a number of sources to speed up the process.

NewLink Genetics Corporation says the vaccine has been 100 percent effective in preventing deadly Ebola infections in non-human primates, and it acts quickly enough to show effectiveness in animals that received a typically lethal dose of the virus.

There is no proven treatment or vaccine for Ebola. A current outbreak of the virus in West Africa is the biggest in history. It has killed more than 1,000 people.